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The revised version of part 1 of 4 (1/4) from Animal Instincts: Chapter 2

One thing:

The USPS is a very strange animal, to be sure, but postmen are not allowed to do what you insinuated there. It's one thing if the house is considered "A rural property", and that requires separate actions for the owner to get their mail, but I can't imagine someone living in the cottage hasn't lodged a complaint... and if there's one thing these cloistered people don't want in town, it's an angry Fed, and that's what they'd bring down on themselves if the local Post Office was doing something stupid. These people strike me as the type to be very good at being left alone. Heck, I'm shocked they have a Post Office to themselves... or at all!

Panting as she slumped to her knees, sweat dripping down her face as she gripped Bardiche, she had to wonder what in all of creation that made her want to go through this, it was a lot harder than she had imagined it would have been. Her bangs slumped down and matted against her face as she looked up at her opponent, one she had never truly beaten when they were enemies and one who had always beaten her when they fought against each other as allies.

That wasn't the worst of it all. The worst of it all was that she couldn't even breach the pink-haired woman's defenses like she used to. She knew she was out of shape, taking over a year off from doing anything too strenuous would do that to a person, but this was a little ridiculous, even by her standards.

Looking at the panting blond, Signum shook her head as she held Laevantine in front of her. The two were dressed in training clothes and using actual weapons today instead of training ones. Fate was sporting a few bruises, cuts and nicks on her body, nothing serious, otherwise that pretty skin of Fate's would have been marred and Signum didn't want that.

Mostly because both Yuuno and Nanoha would be after her if she had left anything more than minor cuts and bruises. Visible scars were never that appealing to anyone, even warriors who dedicated themselves to fighting and training didn't like to have major scars on their bodies.

"Testarossa, I think that's enough." At least she could see what Nanoha, Fate and Yuuno had in common, all three were hard-headed idiots when it came to their own health and pushed themselves too hard too often. It wasn't as noticeable with Yuuno, but the man seemed to try and push himself as hard as Nanoha and Fate did, at least between training people with Vita, looking after the library and helping raise a family. Signum honestly had respect for him for being able to do that.

Fate shook her head and got up unsteadily, using Bardiche as a walking stick to help her stand up. The two were inside one of TSAB's more private training areas, this one was weather controlled, which really helped in the cooler days of late fall and throughout winter. "Not... yet..." Her black shirt was in tatters and even her blue pants were sporting lots of cuts on them. "I can do much better than this..."

Signum nodded, oh, she knew that Fate could, but the biggest problem Signum saw wasn't that Fate was out of shape, even though she was, the problem was timing. For someone who had taken time off to give birth to children and raise them, Fate was in pretty good shape, but her mind wanted to do stuff that her body couldn't keep up with, yet. The timing was off just a little too much and it showed with each blow that Signum could get in that she shouldn't have been able to. "Very well, Testarossa." She said softly, before spinning Laevantine around so that the blunt end was facing Fate, rather than the bladed side, otherwise the next move might accidentally kill her.

Fate watched as Signum shifted her stance, her left leg back and turned her body to that side as she seemed to sheathe Laevantine, before she just... moved.

It wasn't like Sonic Move, or even her speed when in her Sonic Drives, but she seemed to blur so fast that Fate really lost track of where she was, and was a bit too tired to do anything more than try to block as Signum seemed to materialize in front of her before slashing out at her and disappearing again, stopping a foot behind her. Dimly, Fate heard the clink of Laevantine getting sheathed again, before the pain began. Her body seemed to jerk several times through invisible blows before she finally gave up and fell to the ground.

Well, she would have if Signum hadn't been there to catch her before she fell. "Sorry about that, Testarossa, but you really were going to push yourself until you dropped."

"What... Was... That?" Fate asked in between pants for air.

"That looked like something Kyou-chan knows." Miyuki's voice spoke up as the glasses-wearing woman, wearing a black shirt and blue pants, walked onto the training field. She was mostly there to make sure that the two didn't kill themselves, and to monitor Fate's health, just in case something happened. "Is that what you two did that one night?"

Signum nodded softly. "Yes. He saw Laevantine and wanted to test himself against my sword skills." It had been alright, since Signum, Vita, Agito, Rein, Hayate and Zafira had been watching over Marona, Fiasse and the injured Miyuki at the time. And if anything serious had been about to happen, the two of them could have been down to the scene in less than thirty seconds.

"Ah." Miyuki nodded as she realized what that move was. It wasn't anything too special, being something that both she and Kyouya had learned when they were kids, they just needed to have the speed for it, before she shook her head at Fate. "I think you're better off than I would be if I had little kids, Fate-chan." It wasn't much consolation, but it was something. "I hate to say this, Fate-chan, but I think your style is a little too rigid."

Miyuki giggled softly. "I think that Signum knows your style so well that she was reacting to how you would be if you were at full ability, but since you're not, she was able to beat you much faster."

The taller woman nodded silently and smirked. "Most people aren't able to keep up with your speed, Testarossa, it gives you a great edge, but your style is mostly dash in, strike, dash back out for close range fighting."

"I'm not that good at defense and you know that, Signum."

Miyuki raised a brow. "Then why is your main weapon capable of becoming a sword?"

Fate blinked. "Excuse me?"

"A swordsman needs to have a defense that matches his or her offense. If one is lacking, it hurts the other."

"What Testarossa meant was that in comparison to her abilities in speed and offensive power, her defense is rather weak and incapable of staying in at close range for very long."

"Bad habit, I'm afraid. I prefer to avoid taking hits by not being there and devoting more time to offense than trying to block like Nanoha, Vita or even Signum does." Fate shook her head as she was helped to her feet.

"You actually waste a lot of energy doing that." Miyuki looked at Bardiche before a slow smile came to her face. "Actually, Fate, since you're going to be part of my family now, I think that you should learn at least a few of my family's sword techniques. I think maybe Nanoha should as well."

Signum had a momentary flash of something across her face, neither woman noticed, as she thought about Nanoha actually having more skill with her weapon.

"Uh..." Fate blinked slowly. "I don't think..."

"You need it," Miyuki replied lightly. "I'm not saying your form is horrible, but the way you are right now, a skilled sword fighter like Signum could knock you over with a toothpick. You need to learn to relax a bit."

Fate staggered slightly as Signum let go before her shoulders were grabbed again. "I don't know if I can... Hey!" She blinked as Miyuki grabbed her, spun her around and helped her onto Signum's back. "Hey! I can walk, I just need to recover a bit."

Signum rolled her eyes. "I have no doubt about that, Testarossa, but I think you want to take a bath and thanks to me doing this, I'm going to need one as well." She was actually worried that Fate would pass out in the bath tub or in the shower too. "As for Miyuki's suggestion, I think you should take her up on it."

"Signum?" The blond blinked as Signum carried her back into the locker area. "What do you mean?"

"I know your style far too well to lose to it, Testarossa, perhaps mixing in a little bit of Miyuki's sword-style will help you when you use your Zamber forms."

"I'm still here, Signum."

Signum chuckled, sneaking a look at Miyuki. "Shouldn't you be home with Shamal or something?"

Signum chuckled and shook her head. She highly doubted that Vita would hurt Nanoha, especially since Vita got defensive whenever there was a chance that Nanoha might accidentally end up getting hurt. "Well, either join us for a soak, or find something to do." She didn't mean to chase off Miyuki but she didn't see much of a point of the dark haired woman following them into the locker room.

Miyuki laughed. "I can take a hint, Signum. Have fun."

Fate groaned. "Please don't say it like that."

Rolling her eyes, Signum quietly entered the locker room and put Fate down, who sighed and grimaced. "Sorry, Signum..." She was so out of shape that it wasn't funny at all.

The taller woman shook her head. "No, it's fine. You can't help it when you have children after all. Come on, I'll make sure that you don't fall down in the shower or something stupid like that."

Fate laughed softly. "Thank you."

(---)

"Oi... Nanoha... Are you okay?" Vita asked as she looked at Nanoha, both were in their training outfits, but Nanoha was on the ground, seemingly out cold after blocking that last attack from Vita. "Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have tried to push your limits today, but come on, Nanoha!"

"Nyahahahaha..." The woman laughed softly. "Sorry, Vita-chan, just a little out of it, I guess." She cracked an eye open and smiled softly. "Guess I have a long road ahead of me, huh?"

Vita raised a brow and rested Graf Eisen against her shoulder. "Either that or you tried pushing yourself too hard. Again."

Nanoha groaned. "I didn't."

"Nanoha, you've been off for at least a year. Just the fact that you can keep up with me this long is incredible."

"I know, I still feel... So weak right now."

Vita shook her head, if she wasn't holding Graf Eisen, she would have crossed her arms over her chest. "Look, Nanoha, I can't tell you to take it easy, I know you won't, but you don't need to rush yourself back into shape, there's no war or conflict going on right now. I know that it sucks going from the top instructor and being in tip-top shape to trying to get back into shape after doing nothing hard for a year."

Nanoha blinked as she slowly stood up. "Vita-chan? Why are you grinning like that?"

"Oh, because I was remembering how out of shape Yuuno was when I first worked with him." She grinned savagely. "It was a lot of fun to whip him into shape."

"Speaking of Yuuno-kun where..."

"Nanoha, Vita!" Yuuno called out as he walked over to the two with a bag full of stuff. "I went to get some drinks for the two of you."

"Ah, there he is." Vita smirked. "You have such odd timing, ferret boy."

"Ha, ha." Yuuno smiled. "How are you, Nanoha?"

The brunette just groaned.

"Ah..."

"I'm having fun, anyway." Vita shrugged and grabbed a drink when Yuuno offered it. "Thanks. Where were you, anyway?"

Yuuno hesitated, then cleared his throat. "Ah... I got a call from my clan."

Nanoha blinked a few times as she took the can that was offered to her. "You never speak about them, Yuuno-kun. Did something happen?"

Yuuno shrugged awkwardly. "My... my father died. It was a cave in at a site he was working on, an earthquake struck."

"Yuuno-kun..." Nanoha frowned softly. "I... I'm sorry."

Yuuno sighed softly, he knew that he should feel horrible about hearing about his father's passing but he really couldn't feel that bad. Oh sure, it was unsettling to know that his father was dead, but...

"I never really knew him, to be honest."

"I've heard about that." Vita frowned. "The Scrya clan isn't big on family love, is it? I've heard rumors they send kids out at ten..."

Yuuno smiled sheepishly. "And we aren't allowed to go home much either, yes." He sighed. "Honestly, my father never really had much of anything to do with me before I left."

"Eh, with how big your clan is, maybe it's for the best." Vita shrugged slightly as she took a drink. "Though, considering the clan that you're from, I'm surprised that you're such a loving father to your children."

"Yuuno-kun?" Nanoha blinked as she sat down next to him. "What do you mean?"

Yuuno smiled sheepishly. "My father wasn't much of a father to me. From my memories of him, he wasn't much of a husband to my mother, either." He sighed. "It's been haunting me for awhile, to be honest."

Vita blinked. She knew about Yuuno's father concerns, but the addition of what kind of husband he'd be was new.

Nanoha was silent for a long while, before she wrapped an arm around Yuuno's shoulders and rested her head on his shoulder gently. "Yuuno-kun... Are you worried that you'll end up doing something stupid like making our children leave home, or leave them alone when they might need you?"

"Not just them... you and Fate, Vivio, Erio, Caro..."

Nanoha blinked a couple of times before tapping her chin. "So, why don't you tell me a little more about your clan, Yuuno-kun?"

"Nanoha?"

She smiled at his confused look. "It might help if you talk about it. Tell me a little more about your family structure and how it's different for us."

Yuuno blinked, slowly. "You... want to know?"

Vita snorted.

"Well..." Yuuno began slowly, "I don't know how large my clan is, honestly. Sometimes, I think that most of the members of my clan just had children because they felt that they had to, not because they wanted to, or because they loved their partners. Heck, I don't even know if my mom and dad were married, honestly."

Nanoha looked at the grass in front of her. Sure, it was simulated grass due to them being in one of the inside training facilities, but it still felt like grass to her. "I... I guess it's a lot different than the family I'm from. Dad said something about being from a clan once. It's a lot different with lots of family around. You don't form as tight of a bond as you do with a smaller family apparently."

Yuuno shrugged. "I wouldn't know, honestly. Even when I was young and growing up with the clan, I mostly lived with different family members to learn the skills they felt I needed to know."

"Needed to know?"

"To survive on my own. All the children in the clan were expected to strike out at a certain age and make a name for themselves... somehow. In a way, we weren't expected to come home, really."

"Sounds completely reverse of some of the Earth clans I've heard about." Vita said, getting attention to her as she sat down across from them. "Well, from the way I hear it, clans on Earth, at least those not in some western hemisphere countries, tend to stick pretty close together a lot and not move very far from each other." Seeing the looks she was receiving, Vita shrugged and chuckled softly. "What? Hayate explained a lot about Earth customs to us over the years."

Yuuno squirmed. "My clan was built on the basis that if you could survive on your own, you didn't need close family ties to survive," he murmured. "Actually, in my clan coming back to the family after failing at something is considered the greatest shame. I haven't seen any of them until today, when I got contacted about my father."

"Actually, Yuuno, I think you've already beaten a lot of your fears if you're that worried." Vita smirked at him. "Because, ya big lug, you show more concern for Nanoha, Fate and your children than your whole clan ever did for you. I'm actually surprised."

Yuuno laughed. "If you say so." To be honest, talking to his clan mates again had brought back all the empty feelings, the feeling that he didn't belong anywhere and never would belong anywhere.

Vita nodded, before getting up. "As much fun as it was to pound on Nanoha again, I gotta go and write up a training schedule for later." She waved to the two as she walked away.

"Yuuno-kun?" Nanoha asked softly after spending several minutes just cuddling up to his side. "How did you feel when you saw them again? Your clan that is."

Yuuno laughed softly. "Honestly, I felt... like I did when I was still a kid. My clan isn't the most loving one in the world, and they never tried to make me or any of the other children feel loved or welcomed around the home. It kind of made me scared that I'd never find a place to belong or people to love... or if I did, that I'd mess it up."

"Really?" Nanoha looked at him, her face surprisingly neutral as he nodded. She was silent for awhile and Yuuno thought he had screwed up before she sighed and leaned against him more fully. "I guess you, me and Fate-chan are just so much alike, Yuuno-kun."

"Nanoha?"

"The three of us... We all wondered and worried about finding our own place in the world, would we find what we were looking for? A place to call home? A path in life that called out to us? In the end, would there be someone there for us?"

Yuuno blinked, then smiled. "You could say that," he said at last. "We really kind of stumbled into this, didn't we?"

"Yeah..." Nanoha smiled and leaned on him. "Ne, Yuuno-kun..."

"Yeah?" He blinked as she turned and smiled at him. "Nanoha?"

"I hope that you don't expect our children to go live on their own at age nine now."

He sweat-dropped, before chuckling softly. "Only if you don't expect Sora or Isamu to throw around Starlight Breakers at age nine like you did. I think Dieci would have a heart attack."

"No promises, if they want to learn and can handle it, I won't stop them from learning it." Nanoha chuckled as Yuuno pouted softly. "At least we can make sure that they don't stupidly over-exert themselves, huh?"

Yuuno raised a brow. "Hey, I never overexerted myself."

Nanoha gave his shoulder a light smack. "Hmm... Hey, Yuuno-kun..."

"Yeah?" He blinked as she leaned up to kiss him on the lips gently. "Nanoha?"

"When did you fall in love with me?"

Yuuno blushed at that, hard. "When I was nine... and you defeated the Book of Darkness." He looked away. "Before I'd felt really close to you because honestly, no one had ever cared for me like that, and when I saw you come back with Fate after Reinforce something clicked and never went away."

"Really?" Nanoha blinked a few times, before smiling at him. "You... Silly ferret!" She grinned and pounced him from her position, knocking him to the ground as she hugged and kissed him softly. "You know... I don't know when I fell in love with you exactly... I think I started when we went to go against Precia. But I can't recall when I truly fell in love with you or Fate-chan..." She giggled softly. "Maybe I always loved you, even before I knew you."

"If the next words are "I must have breathed you into life", Nanoha, I'm going to take away your music privileges for a month." He grinned at her as her eyes seemingly watered up and she mock-pouted at him.

"Oh! Woe is me! My music's being threatened!" She threw her head back dramatically and put her arm over her eyes. "Oh! Curse you, bad luck, for you are threatening my very livelihood!"

"I'll do it."

Nanoha slowly lowered her arm and smirked. "I'd like to see you try." Her eyes gleamed with playful challenge.

Further down the hall, Vita suddenly shivered. "Was I right to leave those two alone in there?" she wondered aloud to herself.

(---)

There was an important meeting happening. It was very important, so important that it needed to happen at an undisclosed location to happen.

"Why are you four using my apartment again?" Teana asked as she looked at Subaru, Ginga, Nove and Wendi. "And why are.... You know what? I don't want to know why you four are comparing notes about guys." She threw her hands up into the air and walked to her room, closing the door.

"...Excuse me." Subaru got up and went after Teana, hoping to explain things before she got too upset.

Ginga's brow went up. "I think you were right, Nove," she murmured.

"Huh?" The redhead blinked. "About what?"

"Subaru is Teana-sexual." Ginga chuckled as Teela, sitting in the living room, blinking in confusion and wondering why Teana was so upset at that moment.

---

"Ah..." Subaru cleared her throat awkwardly and wondered how to do this. "Tea?"

"You... You think I'm cheating on you?" When Teana nodded, Subaru frowned softly and cupped Teana's chin and made her look up. "Look at me, Tea... Look at me." When her girlfriend finally did, Subaru smiled softly. "Silly Tea, I would never cheat on you. I was helping Gin-nee, Nove and Wendi find Cinque a boyfriend."

The look of stunned shock on Teana's face nearly made Subaru fall over laughing, it was nice to see that other than hurt or anger, in the blue-haired woman's opinion. "W...What? Cinque?"

Subaru giggled and nodded. "Yeah, Cinque's interested in guys, Nove, Gin-nee, Wendi and myself were trying to help her and find her someone who might be interested in her, that's all."

"Cinque's straight?"

"Yes." Subaru giggled again. "It's kind of weird, huh? We're so used to being around girls who like other girls or people involved in threesomes, so none of us really knew how to handle it when she told us."

Teana raised a brow. "You sure it's just Cinque? I think Signum's been making some moves in Vice's direction lately..."

Subaru scratched her head slightly. "Really? Because Sein told me that she thought Signum and Sister Schach were getting pretty close together lately."

Teana suddenly sweat-dropped slightly. "You don't think..."

"Another three-way relationship?" Subaru finished as the two thought about it.

"Naaah!" They denied at the same time. Besides, Signum didn't seem like the kind of person to do what Nanoha, Fate and Yuuno or Ginga, Nove and Wendi did. And with both Vice and Schach? That was beyond the scope of impossible.

"So... does that mean Vice is single?" Teana wondered

"... I don't honestly know..." Subaru had also heard through the grapevine that Vice spent a lot of time with Schach and Signum, and that both women lately seemed to get snarly whenever the thought that he was dating someone else came up. Well, Schach got snarly, Signum just glared.

"Hmm... What about Verossa?"

"Who?" Subaru blinked, trying to place the name with people she knew.

"Oh, right, you don't spend as much time around some of the people I do." Teana chuckled and shook her head. "Sorry, he's a bit taller than me, has green hair, nice guy and..."

"Oh! Rossa!" Subaru laughed softly. "Yeah, I know Rossa."

"Rossa?" Teana blinked a few times. "Who calls him that?"

"Knight Carim, Sein, Otto, Deed, Hayate, myself, I think maybe a few more..." Subaru trailed off while ticking off each person by name on her fingers.

"The General calls him Rossa?" Teana asked.

"Ah, yes, why?"

Teana blinked. "... Never mind. I suddenly get the feeling he's off limits."

Subaru blinked and nodded, before smiling at Teana.

"Ah... Subaru?" Teana gulped slightly as there was a twinkle in her girlfriend's eye. "What are you... Hey!" She yelped as Subaru picked her up and put her on the bed and rolled her over. "Subaru! What do you think you're doing?" She looked over her shoulder as Subaru straddled her waist.

"You're tense Tea..." Subaru said softly and started rubbing her hands into Teana's back, getting a hiss from her lover. "At least let me make up to you by doing this."

Teana groaned and slumped against the bed as Subaru worked out the knots in her back. If there was one thing Subaru was really good at, it was making sure that her back felt good. "Hey, nnnngh, Subaru..."

"Yes?" She blinked as she worked on a tough knot, not pushing too hard, mindful of her own strength, but enough that she was working it out. "What is it, Tea?"

"When did you start to get so interested in massage therapy?" Teana was honestly curious. Subaru had, at various points, given her, Nanoha, Vita and even Hayate back massages when she thought that they needed them. The weird thing was, they always did need them when she thought they did.

"Would you believe that I always wanted to do this, back before Nanoha-san saved me?"

"Really? When did you find the time to learn how to do this?" Teana blinked as Subaru chuckled softly.

"Not much time, I'm afraid, I'm just lucky that I can feel tension as well as I can. I used to give Gin-nee back rubs all the time and I found knots and tension in her back that she didn't know she had." Subaru was actually embarrassed by how natural it felt for her to be able to give out back massages.

"Ah..." Teana sighed softly and relaxed.

"Yeah. I actually taught Wendi and Nove how to do it themselves when they came out and confessed they were dating Gin-nee. I thought they'd like to do something like that for her."

To be honest, Subaru kind of missed doing those kind of things with her sister, but she could understand why Wendi and Nove had wanted to learn.

"That's..." Teana sighed and relaxed as Subaru worked out a really tough knot near the middle of her back that caused her spine to seemingly crack and pop as tension just melted out of her body. "wow..." Teana gasped out softly as she twitched and trembled on the bed.

"Tea... Are you okay?" Subaru had never seen that happen before and was relieved when Teana nodded softly. "I'm sorry, I was just working the muscle knot out and I must have gotten too close to your spine and..."

"Felt good." Teana muttered sleepily. "Felt really good..."

Subaru blinked. "Tea, are you falling asleep?" It was rare for Teana to ever relax and actually take a nap; Subaru could never recall a time when she'd done it.

"Just a little bit... this feels so nice."

Subaru smiled softly and continued her massage. "Tea, I love you." She leaned down close to Teana's ear as she said that. "I'm sorry that I upset you, forgive me, please?"

There was a long moment as Teana considered this before she sighed softly and reached back, gripping Subaru. The next instant she flipped, pulling the short-haired girl tightly to her side.

Subaru smiled and hugged Teana, nodding as her girlfriend drifted off to sleep. "Night, Tea..." She whispered and shifted slightly, before finally getting into position to kiss Teana on the lips gently.

(---)

Wendi smirked as she looked through the slightly opened door before closing it softly and motioning for Nove and Ginga to be quiet as she slipped back to the table. "It's so cute. I wish I had a finger camera like Sein does."

Ginga blinked. "Sein has a finger camera?"

"Yep." Wendi chuckled.

Nove squirmed. "So, if Subaru's asleep... what do we do now?"

"Want to go see a movie?" Wendi shrugged after thinking about it for a bit. "I mean, we could do stuff here, but this is Teana's place and I don't think, well, I think she'd be upset if we messed it up."

"Why not?" Ginga said with a shrug as the three picked up their notes, grabbed their coats and left, though not before Ginga left a note on the table for Subaru and Teana to find. She knew just how crazy her sister could get with worry some days.

"What about me?" Teela asked as she blinked at Ginga, who smiled softly.

"Just relax, Teela. This is your home too now." With that, Ginga left, leaving Teela blinking a few times, before smiling softly, she rather liked the thought of having a home of her own now.

(---)

Later that night...

"Are you sure that it's okay to leave them at home alone?" Fate asked Nanoha as she drove the two in her car down the streets. The two were dressed in casual dresses, Fate wearing a dark purple dress while Nanoha wore a lighter brown and yellow dress.

Nanoha nodded, smiling at her female lover. "Yuuno-kun and Vivio both told us to get out of the house and have some time to ourselves, Fate-chan. And I bet you worked pretty hard today against Signum, didn't you?" Fate chuckled softly, she didn't deny it.

"Still..." Fate couldn't help feeling a little guilty about leaving Yuuno and Vivio alone with the babies.

"They'll be fine. Zafira and Arf are there too, so it isn't like they're by themselves."

Fate shook her head to avoid thinking about it, she still didn't feel right about leaving Yuuno and Vivio with the babies, but they had said that she needed a little time to herself, well, Yuuno had, Vivio had just said that she could look over the babies too. "So, where are we going?"

"Ah, Vice-kun mentioned this diner he liked to go to once and I wanted to check it out." Nanoha smiled softly. Granted, that had been months ago, and she nearly forgot about it, but it just suddenly came to her when Yuuno had suggested that she and Fate take some time off to themselves.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. He said it had good food and nice servers." Nanoha frowned contemplatively. "Though Yuuno-kun got all fidgety and muttery when Vice-kun mentioned it."

"Why?"

"He wouldn't say."

Fate blinked a few times, idly wondering why as she parked the car up to the diner. "Well, should we find out then?"

Nanoha nodded as the two got out of the car and headed in. Once they got inside, they blinked, the place wasn't that big, nor was it too busy at that moment, but at least it seemed rather friendly and comforting.

"Hey, Miki! You've got some customers to seat!" An older man yelled out, causing a rather well-endowed blue-haired girl to practically bounce out of the kitchen and smile at the two.

"Hey!" She smiled brightly at them. "Where would you like to eat? A table, a booth or up at the counter?"

"Ah, booth is fine," Nanoha said. Miki smiled happily before leading the two along, practically bouncing the whole time.

Look at her go, Fate commented mentally.

Nanoha smiled. I can see why Vice-kun liked this place so much. It fits his tastes.

Though I still wonder why Yuuno got so out of shape when you asked about it... Fate wasn't stupid, but nothing about this place really seemed like it would bother Yuuno too much. Unless someone was smoking, but she didn't think that would bother him too much.

"Here you go." Miki smiled at the two as she sat them down and gave them menus. "I can recommend the soup, it's really good, and the salad is fresh, if you're interested."

Nanoha smiled. "I'll have the soup, thanks."

Fate shook her head. "Nothing for me. I can wait."

Miki nodded and jotted it down before leaving; Nanoha smirked at Fate. "I swear, you don't eat enough sometimes."

Fate shrugged. Maybe she didn't, but she didn't feel that hungry some times. "I'm not that frail, Nanoha, I can go a little bit longer while I look over the menu." She ignored Nanoha as she giggled and looked over her menu a bit more. "Besides, I eat healthy enough, so I never truly go hungry."

Nanoha laughed. "If you say so."

Fate looked around. "You know, I still can't see why Yuuno dislikes this place so much. It's very nicely kept, and everyone seems friendly."

In short order, Miki had returned with Nanoha's soup and two glasses of water. "So, ladies, what can I get for you?" The two smiled at her and made their orders as she jotted them down, smiled and took their menus. "It will be right out." She said as she went back to the kitchen.

Nanoha blew on the soup, using her spoon, took a sip of it, before her eyes widened pleasantly. "This is rather good, Fate-chan. You should have some."

The blond shook her head, she could wait. Sighing softly, she took a sip of her water and blinked as she heard her waitress talking in a nearby corner to someone.

"I'm telling you, Natie..." She was saying to someone that Fate didn't notice. "That blond guy was so cute. And he was Vice's friend, and those glasses..."

"But didn't he say that he had two girlfriends already?"

Miki snorted slightly. "I tell you, I still don't think that they were good enough for him, if he needs two to help satisfy anything."

Fate glanced at Nanoha curiously and motioned for her to scoot closer; they weren't eavesdropping, exactly, since the waitresses were talking right by the booth, and being rather loud about it.

The girl called Natie sighed. "Honestly, Miki, it's been what, several months? I can't believe you're still hung up on it. He was so thin and lanky-looking, like a breeze could knock him over."

"Oh, come on, Natie, you should have seen him. He was so cute, such a soft voice, but then he got all upset, I mean, okay, I could have said it better than that, but did he have to get so upset and leave like that?"

Nanoha frowned softly, what was she talking about?

"Miki..." Natie was heard sighing. "Look, let's not talk about this here, okay? Besides, did you even get his name?"

"Vice told me his name." Miki sighed.

"Oh, for the love of..." Natie sounded ready to bang her head against a wall. "Miki, it was months ago, the guy has two girlfriends, and it seemed like he really loved them. You don't have a snowball's chance in hell."

"It's not my fault that Yuuno Scrya is my destined! I swear it."

The two in the booth suddenly stiffened, their eyes wide as they looked at each other in utter shock. No wonder Yuuno looked insanely nervous when this place was brought up.

"Master?" Raising Heart spoke up from around Nanoha's neck. The small gem sounded like she wanted to kill someone.

"Sir?" Bardiche asked in his incredibly polite tone of voice, yet even he had an under-current of anger in his tone.

"Your... destined." Natie sounded as if she was choking on laughter. "Okay, Mikki, no offense but, he hasn't been here in months. He had two girlfriends last time he was here. I'll be fair and say that he seemed to love them a lot and didn't just keep them around for pleasure."

"You keep saying that, but it doesn't change the fact that if I knew where he lived, I could just go and apologize to him and tell him the truth of everything and..."

"Excuse us." Miki blinked as her friend suddenly paled and pointed behind her. Turning the blue-haired woman had to wonder just why she felt like she was about to meet someone she wouldn't like. Standing behind her were the two ladies in the booth she had just sat, neither one looking particularly happy at her.

"We couldn't help but overhear your conversation." Nanoha said slowly. "And it sounds like you were talking about the father of our children."

Miki blinked. "Children?"

Natie groaned. "Oh, now you did it," she whimpered, and tugged on Miki's arm. "Miki, come on. Don't pick a fight. They look upset."

"Children... What?" The blue-haired girl blinked several times in utter bafflement and confusion as she looked at the two of them. "But... Children... Destined..."

Nanoha and Fate both blinked, several times as they watched their waitress's eyes suddenly roll up into the back of her head and she passed out and would have hurt herself if it hadn't been for her friend grabbing her.

"...I didn't expect that." Nanoha muttered softly.

"Uh... sorry about that," Fate murmured.

Natie sighed. "Nah, not your fault. Miki's been hung up on this Yuuno guy ever since she met him. She isn't really used to rejection, and he put her down pretty soundly."

"I see..." Fate said softly. "Please, tell her that we do not appreciate our lover getting hit on by other women." That was putting it mildly, Fate was nearly tempted to take Miki outside and calmly, completely, and utterly terrify the woman into leaving Yuuno alone and never think of him again.

She nodded and tried to smile softly. "Please, do not think badly of our facility. Miki's just fixated on that Yuuno person. I never met him, so, please, I apologize for her."

Natie must have read Fate's unspoken thoughts, because she nodded one last time before gathering Miki up and taking her into the back.

"... Now I can really understand why Yuuno-kun squirms when this place is mentioned," Nanoha murmured.

Fate rubbed her forehead with closed eyes as she tried to fight off an upcoming headache. "Nanoha, would it be wrong of me to want to leave, right now, and just find a different place to enjoy an evening out?"

Nanoha shook her head. "No, I feel the same way. And, Fate-chan..."

"Yeah?"

"Would it be wrong of me to want to go home and really, really snuggle with you and Yuuno-kun when we're done?"

"I was about to suggest that, honestly." Fate smiled, before blinking as an older man came up to them, smiling softly. He was dressed in a slightly dingy white shirt, black pants and wore an apron around his body.

"Sorry about Miki, ladies, she's a good worker and a good kid, she just tends to get things into her head that she shouldn't at times." His voice was a bit rough, but he sounded sincere. "Tell you what, if you come back, I'll make sure to not let Miki serve you and give you a free meal out of it, okay?" Suddenly his eye twinkled softly. "Actually, you have kids, right? Miki was muttering something about that." The two nodded at him as he laughed softly. "Good, good. Come by during lunch. Our lunch cook, Mavis, she loves kids, has a few grandkids of her own and always loves to see more."

"As for tonight, meal's free. I would hate to see such lovely ladies have to go home upset on an empty stomach." He smiled at them. "That is, if you want to eat here still."

Nanoha and Fate exchanged another look before they both smiled, and this time it was Nanoha who spoke up. "Why not?"

He grinned at them. "Sit down and enjoy yourselves, ladies, I'll have your food out in a moment." He disappeared back into the kitchen as Nanoha and Fate sat down, the blond leaning back and sighing heavily.

"Fate-chan?"

"Remind me to give Yuuno the largest hug he ever had when we get home." Nanoha nodded at her and smiled softly.

"Only if you remind me to do the same, nyahahahaha..." Nanoha giggled softly.

"Sorry, you should go to bed, Vivio." He smiled as she pouted. He knew that she wanted to stay up to see Nanoha and Fate, but it was getting late. "I'll tell Nanoha and Fate to see you when they get home, okay, dear?"

She nodded sleepily as Yuuno got up and picked her up. "Can you two clean up?"

"Not a problem." Arf smiled at him as she and Zafira picked up the cards.

"She tries so hard sometimes," Zafira murmured.

"Vivio?" Arf chuckled. "Yeah, she's a sweet kid. She did a world of good when Nanoha found her. I've never seen anyone who could make Nanoha give up the sky willingly."

"I don't think she made Nanoha give up the sky." Zafira said softly, getting Arf to blink in confusion. "If anything, it made her realize that the sky wasn't the only important thing." He smirked softly, which looked a little weird on his young-looking body. "I doubt that Nanoha's given up the sky. If anything, she's going to pass on that love to Vivio, Sora, Isamu and Alicia, so that they can join her in the sky."

Arf winced. "That's a scary thought."

"Oh?"

"With those three? Yes, I think so."

Zafira chuckled softly and shook his head. "I'm not worried about it." He put the cards away and blinked as Arf suddenly grinned at him. "What?"

"You have a lot of faith in her children."

Zafira rolled his eyes at her. "Nanoha's not as bad as the rumors make her out to be, regardless of what she did to Fate, Vita and Vivio." He chuckled as Arf started to laugh.

"Well, maybe not, but I just hope that Vivio doesn't take after Nanoha and makes friends that way."

"Why not? It worked for us, didn't it?"

"Well, yes, but when I think back on all the trouble we caused Nanoha..." Arf sighed. "I just hope Vivio won't have to go through that."

Zafira shrugged and went back to what he was doing, and for a long moment silence stretched between them.

After a moment, Arf coughed softly. "Ah, not to sound strange, Zaffy..."

"Go ahead." He wasn't even listening, to be honest.

"But the way you are with Vivio and the babies... you'll make a good father someday."

Zafira sighed softly. "Some of our earlier masters used me as a guard-dog for their children. They weren't too bad over-all."

"I thought Hayate was the only master that was good?" Arf blinked a few times in confusion as Zafira sighed.

"She was the only one that treated us like we were people, yes. Not all of our masters made us go out and fight all the time though. Some of them used us as slaves, live-in maids, butlers, but none of them saw us as people, just something to use and abuse if they wanted to."

"Oh... So you looked after some children at times?"

"It wasn't hard, and I enjoyed it, honestly."

Arf nodded quietly. Zafira had a good personality for watching children, and she'd always known that he'd probably learned his skills from someplace, though she never thought about it too much. She'd just noticed how well he handled Vivio.

"Like I said... you'll make a good father someday." She shrugged. "If, you know, familiars can have kids."

Zafira chuckled softly. "I don't know if familiars can or not, but you're pretty good with children yourself." He smiled at her as Yuuno came back into the room. "She asleep?"

He nodded at the two of them. "Thanks for all your help, Zafira, Arf. I'm glad you two helped me out tonight."

"No problem." Arf shrugged. "I didn't like the thought of leaving you alone with the kids, even when Vivio's on her best behavior."

"I just wanted to help," Zafira admitted.

Yuuno smiled. "Still, thanks again. I really appreciate it." He rubbed the back of his neck.

Arf frowned. "Are you okay, Yuuno? You seem a little stressed."

"Ah... my mother wants me to come back to the clan for Father's funeral..."

Arf frowned softly, before blinking. "When?"

"In a few days, actually." Yuuno sighed and ran his hand through his hair, seemingly slumping in depression. "I'm not sure if I want to go."

"But, it's your father." Arf blinked a few times as Yuuno nodded. "Don't you want to go, at least to pay some respects. I mean, you wouldn't be here without him."

Zafira's eyes softened in understanding. "He wasn't a real father to you, was he." It was a statement, not a question.

Yuuno nodded quietly.

"Yuuno?" Arf blinked a few times in confusion at him. "You're a great father, how..."

"I don't know. I was an oddity with my clan, honestly." Yuuno said as he went to the couch and sat down, shaking his head. "I don't know if any of the rest of the clan had any problems like I did. I always thought that I wanted too much from the rest of the clan. I always thought that I was greedy and that I wanted too much from everyone around me. I felt... I felt alone."

"Nothing wrong with that." Zafira said, smirking softly. "Hayate helped myself, Vita, Shamal and Signum realize that we were worth something, that we deserved more. Maybe you should go, Yuuno... Go with Fate, Nanoha and your children, show the rest of your clan what a real loving family is like."

"You mean show off?" Arf smirked at him as Zafira shook his head.

"No, I mean, from the way it sounds, your clan doesn't know much about family love outside of helping each other to learn enough skills to live on your own. But they probably don't know what it's like to be a close family. Why don't you show them yours?"

"How could I ask that of Fate and Nanoha, though?" Yuuno wondered. "My clan is... it's different from the families they're used to."

"So?" Zafira shrugged. "Fate and Nanoha love you. They can accept anything if you're there with them. They don't want to judge you, Yuuno, they just want to support you."

Yuuno hesitated, then scratched the back of his neck. "I guess... I guess I could ask them about it and see what they have to say. I know my clan won't have much of anything to do with us after my father is buried, but it would be nice for them to meet the women I love." He blushed lightly.

Arf laughed. "You're cute."

"What? And I'm not?" Zafira said lightly, getting a weird look from both of them. "What? I like to be complimented too."

Yuuno chuckled as Zafira blushed, but he made no move to push Arf away.

"We're home." Nanoha called out as she and Fate walked into the door. "Yuuno-kun," she smiled as she saw Yuuno on the couch, Arf and Zafira hugging and, she blinked. "Zafira? As a child?"

Fate grinned at him. "So cute!" She gushed as she looked at the two of them. "Hold still." She pulled up Bardiche and held it out. "Image capture."

"Yes, sir." Bardiche said politely as it captured the image.

"Can I get a copy of that?" Arf asked eagerly.

Zafira groaned. "Fate, don't show that to Hayate. I don't know what she'll do to me if she learns I have a child form."

Fate giggled softly and smiled at him. "I won't tell her, but if she finds out about this picture Zafira, I'll have to give it to her."

"Fair enough." Zafira sighed softly as Arf ruffled his hair. "Though, if I'm not needed right now, I think I'll head home. Hayate's going to be home tonight and I don't want to worry her."

"I'll head back to Lindy's too," Arf added. "She needs a pair of extra hands around the house since Amy's getting further along and Chrono's flipping out like an expectant daddy." She chuckled.

"Okay." Fate smiled, walked up to Arf and picked her up to hug her. "Take care out there, Arf, you too, Zafira." Arf smiled as she hugged Fate back.

"We will, Fate. You just be careful too." Arf smiled at her and kissed Fate on the cheek gently as she was put down. "Come on, Zafira."

Fate smiled as she watched the two head to the door. She was about to say something when the two opened the door and shifted to wolf forms and ran out. "...Well, that's one way to stay warm." She said softly and closed the door.

Yuuno chuckled. "I think they like the speed of it," he said. "Plus, Zafira isn't really all that fond of his child form. I don't even know how Arf manages to get him to use it." He shook his head, amused, before he smiled at his lovers. "So how was your evening?"

"Oh." Yuuno said in understanding as he smiled softly. "If it makes you feel any better, Sora, Isamu and Alicia all slept pretty soundly most of the night."

"Vivio?"

"Wanted to stay up to see you guys return, but she got tired." Yuuno chuckled. "She went to bed without any complaints, though."

Nanoha nodded and let go of the hug gently. "I'm going to go check on her, I'll be back." The two blonds nodded as she left.

"Yuuno? Why are you so tense?" Fate asked after Nanoha had left the room.

Yuuno hesitated. "Did Nanoha tell you anything?"

"She said your father..."

Fate trailed off as Yuuno nodded. "Yeah. My mother... she wants me to come back to the clan for his funeral." He sighed. "Is it wrong of me that I don't want to go?"

"If I said yes, that would just be a part of me that wishes that she could have a funeral for my first mother to go to, for some closure. But, Yuuno," Fate shook her head and smiled softly, "I honestly don't blame you for not wanting to go. But, ask yourself this, Yuuno... Your father, even if he wasn't there for you... Do you want to go throughout the rest of your life without seeing the funeral? It will always bother you if you don't go."

"Fate?" Yuuno blinked as Fate sighed softly.

"I... I always wished that there was a funeral for mother... Even just a small grave... So that I could have some closure in my life with her."

Yuuno hesitated only a moment before he reached out and gently drew Fate into his arms. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

Fate shook her head. "It's fine... just got caught up in the moment."

"I just... I'm not like that, Fate. I don't need closure. My father was never part of my life, not even the way your mother was. No one in my clan, from what I know, was ever a major part of my life." Yuuno sighed. "I was glad to get away from them, to be honest."

"It's okay." Fate said softly and kissed him on the lips gently. "Yuuno, if you don't want to go, that's fine. I won't force you to go."

The USPS is a very strange animal, to be sure, but postmen are not allowed to do what you insinuated there. It's one thing if the house is considered "A rural property", and that requires separate actions for the owner to get their mail, but I can't imagine someone living in the cottage hasn't lodged a complaint... and if there's one thing these cloistered people don't want in town, it's an angry Fed, and that's what they'd bring down on themselves if the local Post Office was doing something stupid. These people strike me as the type to be very good at being left alone. Heck, I'm shocked they have a Post Office to themselves... or at all!

What are you trying to say?

The people of Kiulks don't like outsiders AT ALL (Fate and Nanoha...) but because their town is so isolated, they share a sort of "system of laws" with the neighboring town, Alekgnak (I forgot how to spell it...). The children of Kiulks also go to school in Alekgnak. So basically, they have to follow what the other town is doing if they want the same benefits but that's all I can say without revealing too much of ch.2 and ch.3 (and future chapters for that matter! ). It's pretty complicated. But' I'll be happy to fix something if it seems out of place.

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I'm just now getting around to reading Animal Instincts, but so far it's pretty good.

I don't usually go for shipping fics too much but there has been kind of a dearth of any other type of fic around here recently. =/

*bows*

Thank you!

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I posted a short fic a while ago, but no one reviewed it. I might go back over it and repost it later.

@Nijiru: I read it! I thought I wrote something but I forgot! Oops....
Anyway, I like it. It's actually quite interesting what you did.

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Originally Posted by Satashi

make sure you draw attention to it by pointing out what its about, ect. That'll prevent it from getting buried in backlog.

You know Satashi, that hardly ever works. I mean, yeah, it would be easier to read a summary about what it's about but it's another thing to completely ignore it after it being posted multiple times. Somebody needs to get a little curious. After I see a fic posted several times, I would read it but....yeah. It doesn't always work like that. It's like that in ff.net. I get so many favorites but hardly any reviews. Also, I'll get a thousand hits for one story but nobody ever tells me if the fic was all right or needs improvement. It'll be nice if a few people would tell me if it's coming out ok or if it needs some work. But that's just my opinion.

The people of Kiulks don't like outsiders AT ALL (Fate and Nanoha...) but because their town is so isolated, they share a sort of "system of laws" with the neighboring town, Alekgnak (I forgot how to spell it...). The children of Kiulks also go to school in Alekgnak. So basically, they have to follow what the other town is doing if they want the same benefits but that's all I can say without revealing too much of ch.2 and ch.3 (and future chapters for that matter! ). It's pretty complicated. But' I'll be happy to fix something if it seems out of place.

So wouldn't the postmen be from Alekgnak? I'm just saying the USPS would not be happy with the behavior you're implying in the postmen.

I have to agree with Spawn here. I can understand the people don't like outsiders, but not even a postman would be like that to someone like Nanoha or Fate. Too many complaints would be lodged against the company, and the town would end up with more trouble than it wants.

I have to agree with Spawn here. I can understand the people don't like outsiders, but not even a postman would be like that to someone like Nanoha or Fate. Too many complaints would be lodged against the company, and the town would end up with more trouble than it wants.

You know Satashi, that hardly ever works. I mean, yeah, it would be easier to read a summary about what it's about but it's another thing to completely ignore it after it being posted multiple times. Somebody needs to get a little curious. After I see a fic posted several times, I would read it but....yeah. It doesn't always work like that. It's like that in ff.net. I get so many favorites but hardly any reviews. Also, I'll get a thousand hits for one story but nobody ever tells me if the fic was all right or needs improvement. It'll be nice if a few people would tell me if it's coming out ok or if it needs some work. But that's just my opinion.

Tue reviews are a rare thing indeed. I know what you mean, though. I have the same 15-20ish people review almost all my stuff on FF.N despite having a few thousand hits a chapter. You would think that surely one of those would offer some nice constructive criticism every now and then, you know?

But sadly, we can't force people to leave reviews. I know I don't do it often myself, but that's just because I don't read them. The fics I do read however, I take the time to leave my thoughts and suggestions, even if I don't like the fic. No offense to 00 here, but I stopped reading his halfway through because I didn't like it. That didn't stop me from seeing the good and potential of it, though, and thus I left a very lengthy review. If only others would as well T_T

Tue reviews are a rare thing indeed. I know what you mean, though. I have the same 15-20ish people review almost all my stuff on FF.N despite having a few thousand hits a chapter. You would think that surely one of those would offer some nice constructive criticism every now and then, you know?

But sadly, we can't force people to leave reviews. I know I don't do it often myself, but that's just because I don't read them. The fics I do read however, I take the time to leave my thoughts and suggestions, even if I don't like the fic. No offense to 00 here, but I stopped reading his halfway through because I didn't like it. That didn't stop me from seeing the good and potential of it, though, and thus I left a very lengthy review. If only others would as well T_T

Tue reviews are a rare thing indeed. I know what you mean, though. I have the same 15-20ish people review almost all my stuff on FF.N despite having a few thousand hits a chapter. You would think that surely one of those would offer some nice constructive criticism every now and then, you know?

But sadly, we can't force people to leave reviews. I know I don't do it often myself, but that's just because I don't read them. The fics I do read however, I take the time to leave my thoughts and suggestions, even if I don't like the fic. No offense to 00 here, but I stopped reading his halfway through because I didn't like it. That didn't stop me from seeing the good and potential of it, though, and thus I left a very lengthy review. If only others would as well T_T

I wish I had 1000 hits/chapter and 2 reviews/chapter, much less the numbers you put up.

I try to say something constructive about everything I read. I'm actually less likely to review something the more other people have.

Tue reviews are a rare thing indeed. I know what you mean, though. I have the same 15-20ish people review almost all my stuff on FF.N despite having a few thousand hits a chapter. You would think that surely one of those would offer some nice constructive criticism every now and then, you know?

But sadly, we can't force people to leave reviews. I know I don't do it often myself, but that's just because I don't read them. The fics I do read however, I take the time to leave my thoughts and suggestions, even if I don't like the fic. No offense to 00 here, but I stopped reading his halfway through because I didn't like it. That didn't stop me from seeing the good and potential of it, though, and thus I left a very lengthy review. If only others would as well T_T

No offense taken. If you don't like something, by all means you have every right to stop. You have every right to out and out ignore it too, but I'm glad you gave your input. I have ideas for how to re-write it now.

I too would like more reviews on my stuff, especially the stuff I'm particularly proud of. I feel really bad for my My HiME/Hell Girl cross over fic, as I'm most proud of that one, but no one looks at the crossover section on FF.net, so it has few hits. Though it has gotten more reviews than some of my other stuff.

I'd much rather have no reviews+plenty of hits over the usual "Lol you're such a troll go die furfag" 'reviews' I get often. I get a fair number of "This is great!" comments to, and while it doesn't help me improve the story, it sure makes me feel good

I can proudly say I review all the fics I read. It's just that I only read 2 or 3 fics

But at the same time, reviews arn't everything. The hit number is what means the most stat-wise, but even that can't really say things that the reader felt. Personally, I just like knowing that someone enjoyed what I wrote. Be it one out of a hundred, or one in ten-thousand, my words made a person smile. That's good enough for me <3

.......*facepalm* ugh, I sound like a hallmark card.

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I wish I had 1000 hits/chapter and 2 reviews/chapter, much less the numbers you put up.

I've posted almost 90 fics on FF.N, I have a little head start over you Remember, I get my share of flames and "you suck" as well. My numbers are a little higher because I'm simply "known" in the fan community because I have such a vast amount of fics (and personal doujin scans/ a doujin released with Angel, and everyone who downloads NanoFate doujinshi all see my name and link to my account at end of some translated things.) But higher numbers also mean more people not liking my works. You should see what they say about me at other boards. I think I have a community of people who want to lynch me hehe.

A true review also takes a lot of time to put together. At most I usually note a particular thing I liked (such as the Shamal/Miyuki in 'a day in the life'), or a flaw that really stands out (such as Yuuno's father dieing just recently, even though he never had any parents and was raised by the clan, and him feeling lonely even though he by his own words considers everyone in the clan family) but a real review will talk about the good and bad points of the entire chapter, and can easily be a few hundred words in size.